Beaverbrook Art Gallery Announces Appointment of Senior Curator

Terry Graff, Director/CEO and Chief Curator of the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, is pleased to announce the appointment of Jeffrey Spalding to the position of Senior Curator.

“I am delighted to welcome Jeffrey Spalding to the Beaverbrook Art Gallery,” Graff said. “Along with extensive leadership experience and curatorial expertise in the visual arts, Jeffrey brings exceptional dedication and a visionary perspective to the position of Senior Curator. His arrival is perfectly synchronized with a most pivotal time in the Gallery’s history, as we advance our ambitions for an improved and expanded facility, develop and interpret our extraordinary permanent collection, and enhance our visitors’ experience.”

Jeffrey Spalding is an artist, curator, and art writer. He organized Canada's art exhibition for Expo 93 Korea, and is author of numerous books and catalogues for exhibitions held at many prestigious museums, such as the Tate Gallery, Russia’s Hermitage Museum, the National Gallery of Canada, the Phoenix Art Museum and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, among others. He served as professor of art at Florida State University; York University, Toronto; Alberta's University of Lethbridge; and The Banff Centre. He was Director at several major art museums, including the Glenbow Museum, Calgary; the University of Lethbridge, Alberta; the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax; the Appleton Museum of Art, Florida, and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Calgary. Spalding's art is chronicled in historical survey texts, exhibited and collected by Canada's principal art museums, including the National Gallery of Canada; the Vancouver Art Gallery; the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts; The Canadian Embassy, Washington; the Canadian Consulate, Sydney, Australia; the Art Gallery of Alberta, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia; and the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal. His pioneering video art of the 1970s was featured in a solo exhibition organized by the Art Gallery of Ontario and in an international touring exhibition circulated by the Tate. Spalding was elected President, Royal Canadian Academy of Arts 2007-2010. He is a recipient of the Alberta College of Art and Design Board of Governors Award of Excellence (1992) and the Order of Canada (2007), which was for awarded to him for his numerous contributions as a champion of Canadian artists, notably as a curator who has developed many popular and critical exhibitions that have attracted new audiences to Canadian art galleries.

Commenting on his new appointment, Spalding said, “It is a privilege to join a team of outstanding staff, board, volunteers and gallery friends at the very moment the Beaverbrook is poised to undergo inspiring physical renovations and transformative expansions. What an honour to be included upon this remarkable journey.”

He further elaborates: “The Beaverbrook has long been admired and respected for its exemplary permanent collection and publications scholarship; both historical and contemporary, as well as regional and international. I hope together we will continue to build upon this sterling legacy and find innovative, intriguing ways to share this with our citizens, visitors and dedicated students of the arts. More so than ever, contemporary art is acknowledged as a global phenomenon. Outstanding, influential artists come from every corner of the globe. Beaverbrook’s early history uniquely embraced the idea of reciprocally connecting the artists and people of New Brunswick and Atlantic Canada to the rest of the world. It has been my aspiration to embrace the richness of this international cultural diversity. I believe we will continue to attract wonderful things to our community in cooperation with colleagues far and wide.”